sexy no jutsu
by paws-bells
Summary: ItaSaku Non Massacre AU. First prequel to Icha Icha Paradise. A mission gone awry. A failed henge. And that was how they met.


**Title:** sexy no jutsu

**Author: **paws-bells

**Characters/Pairing: **Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Itachi

**Type:** One-shot (Complete)

**Genre:** Romance/Humor

**Word Count:** 5446

**Theme:** LJ Community, 50-shinobi theme #31, sexy no jutsu

**Rating:** M (Contains content suitable for mature teens and older)

**Disclaimer:** Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-san.

**A/N:** I'm finally back! Exams are over and I think I will do well—at least reasonably. Missed you guys lots, and thanks for all your encouragement and understanding. I definitely felt the love!

**Summary: **Non Massacre AU. First prequel to Icha Icha Paradise. A mission gone awry. A failed henge. And that was how they met.

**Chapter Last Revised on:** 09/02/08

* * *

The mission was bound to be a failure from the very beginning.

The idea behind the plan itself was so idiotic that Sakura could feel her eye twitch every time she recalled Naruto's laughably simple arrangement. But still, it was the only chance they had to help bust out Sasuke and so the members of Team Seven were all for it despite the sheer ridiculousness of what they all had to do.

Who would have guessed that Naruto's self-created oiroke no jutsu would be so crucial to the success of this mission?

Nervously, the only female of the team took a deep breath as she prepared herself for what was going to come next. Slipping into this high class establishment undetected had been rather easy on her part, but it was what that was coming next that had Sakura so skittish.

The beautiful pink-haired kunoichi twitched again.

Damn Naruto for coming up with this plan. Damn Sasuke for being born an Uchiha.

Sakura growled softly to herself.

And damn all those ancient Uchiha biddies for forcing them to do this!

For Team Seven, Sasuke had stood up against his clan and protected his fox brother and best friends from the wrath of his noble family when time and again they had tried to separate the younger Uchiha from his pack of 'unruly and uncouth' teammates. This time though, the clan had finally felt that he had gone too far when he had made the difficult decision to protect his friends instead of making use of their devotion to him to further glorify the family name.

Outwardly, Sasuke had done exactly as Kakashi-sensei had drilled into their heads ever since they were Genins—never abandon their teammates no matter the situation. Internally though, within the Uchiha clan the youngest son of Fugaku had committed a treacherous crime to his family—he had turned his back on his clan, even if only momentarily.

It was something that the clan elders had felt that he had to be punished for—and it didn't take the rest of Team Seven long to understand that this was definitely another one of their schemes to rip Sasuke away from their protective midst.

Because this was strictly a clan affair, not even the Hokage could interfere with the matter. Sasuke would pay for his mistakes and no one outside of the clan would know of what was going on—what happens within the walls of the Uchiha clan stays within the walls of the Uchiha clan.

In the face of such overwhelming odds, most would have given up and watched sadly from the sidelines as one of their own was being punished for doing the right thing.

It was something that the clan elders had expected—and once Sasuke learns the hard lesson that his clan would be the only one there for him in the end, it was expected that his ridiculous attachment to the Kyuubi Jinchuriki as well as his equally worthless teammates would be irrevocably broken.

However, they had failed to take in consideration one thing—Team Seven would never leave one of their own behind—no matter what.

And that was how the plan to rescue Sasuke was born. The spiky-haired Uchiha had done his best to shield their team from the conspiracies of his clan; now it was their turn to protect him.

_And they would not fail. _

Taking one last glance around the empty dressing area to make sure that there was no one around, Sakura quickly stripped naked and shoved her clothes into the nearest available shelve. Quickly gathering her fingers to her and rapidly flashing through a sequence of seals, Sakura whispered fiercely.

"Oiroke no jutsu!"

A brief explosion of chakra later revealed a completely naked Sakura—the male version that is. Sakura had practiced Naruto's jutsu so many times yesterday that the henge modification was ridiculously easy to perform now. Her perfect chakra control helped immensely of course, and she had also learnt that it would take a lot less concentration to keep up the naked henge if she herself had been unclothed in the first place.

Her part of the mission required for her to stall and buy time for Naruto and Sai whereas they sneaked into the highly guarded Uchiha clan to free Sasuke. Sasuke's 'trial' with his clan would begin later this afternoon and they had to get him away before it started. Since it was well known that the Uchiha elders often liked to visit this particular exclusive hot springs inn before every clan meeting, Sakura's task was to attempt to delay them for as long as she could—which was the reason why she was inside a men-only changing area stuck in a male-henge body.

She would be playing the role of a young merchant from Mist.

Sakura grabbed a small towel and wrapped it nervously around her hips. Taking yet another deep breath, she checked herself for any inconsistencies. There weren't any. Her body was now as male as it could ever be, sleek pectorals replacing formerly soft, feminine breasts, her hips were a little narrower, her buttocks flatter and sleeker; not as round as before. Her pink hair was still long and reached the small of her waist though—no matter how hard she tried she just could not seem to shorten it for the transformation. She was still as petite as ever and her face was startlingly delicate for a supposed male; large green eyes, a small nose, pouty rosebud mouth and dainty cheekbones.

All in all, Sakura thought that she looked like a girly, pretty boy.

The kunoichi grimaced inwardly. This would have to do though; she consoled herself, at least there was nothing physically feminine about her.

Reminding herself to assume a sort of 'manly' walk, Sakura forced her hips to quit swaying and straightened her spine with her shoulders back. Her strides appeared less lively and more confident as she quickly fell into the role of being a 'man'. Thankfully, there were not a lot of people here at the moment; every time she passed by a male she had the most uncontrollable urge to bring her hands up over her exposed chest, almost forgetting that she was a man now.

The fact that the men who came across her all seem to double take at her feminine features and delicate form—and then blush fiercely when it became apparent that she was male did not help at all. Sakura was most discomforted by the flashes of lust that she had seen in the eyes of some of the males. The kunoichi blanched inwardly. Not that she was homophobic or anything, but being trapped in a male body whilst being surrounded by a horde of touchy gay men really did not sit well with the petite female.

Sakura hurried down the hallway in larger strides. The private hot spring frequented by the Uchiha clan should be right around the corner—there!

Immediately Sakura slammed open the sliding door and all but scurried into the darkened area. The suddenly steamy and hot atmosphere hardly phased the kunoichi—she had made sure to enter this hot springs establishment even before her targets had left the clan compound. Now she only had to wait for them to come to her, and find some topics to engage them enough that they wouldn't mind being a little late to see to the punishment of one of theirs.

It was apparent that Sakura had been chosen for the job because of her deep knowledge in politics. She wasn't the Hokage's disciple for nothing after all, and it had been rather obvious that Naruto's usual 'oiroke no jutsu' would not work well on these old men who literally had a pole jammed up their behind. Intelligence would win over base desires for this situation, and Sakura was just the person to do it.

Now she would just have to wait—and mentally rehearse the plan one more time.

A lot quietly this time, the female-turned-male slid the wooden door shut carefully.

Then she turned around and started to walk slowly towards the hot spring, looking slightly exasperated as she did so. Absently pushing away a few strands of long pink hair away from her face, Sakura hoped that Naruto and Sai were currently alright. They were probably about to commence with their part of the mission, and Sakura prayed hard that they wouldn't get caught.

Her gaze directed downwards in deep thought, Sakura started to enter the hot spring slowly, daintily stepping in toe first. Her actions were tellingly feminine but Sakura was just too distracted to notice. At long last she was standing waist deep in the deliciously hot water, and it was then that Sakura brought her head up to look for somewhere to perch herself on.

Immediately, wide verdant met dark onyx.

Sakura froze promptly as her brain finally processed the message that her instincts had been screaming at her ever since she had entered the springs.

She was not alone.

_And wasn't Uchiha Itachi supposed to be on a three month mission away from Konoha?_

He wasn't supposed to be here; sitting calmly in the hot waters not a meter away from her, and staring at her so intently that she was completely taken aback—and frozen with shock.

Sakura recovered eventually and did the first thing that came to mind.

She ducked quickly into the water, until only her head was visible.

Almost immediately she realized how stupid her action was—not to mention how incredibly unmanly.

"Uh…who are you…?" The pink-haired female decided to feign ignorance. After all, she seldom if ever saw the Uchiha heir and she doubted that he recognized her anyhow, distinctive pink hair or no. Immediately her eyes darted around the spring to search for some place to place her back against. That concentrated look on the face of the older Uchiha made Sakura feel completely insecure—as if he had already seen through her henge and knew exactly just who she was.

Which was completely impossible, of course. He hadn't activated his Sharingan!

Sakura willed herself to calm down as she forced herself to scoot towards the Uchiha. Putting exaggerated distance between herself and the genius ANBU Captain was sure to arouse suspicion and thus Sakura parked herself unwillingly not three feet away from Sasuke's elder brother, her long pink hair floating around her in the water like a silken cloak.

In response to her question, his brow lifted slowly.

Once again, Sakura stiffened at the almost telling look on his face. Then she quickly assured herself that there was just _no way_ that he could know of her identity, and so she forged on bravely.

"Oh, I apologize for my rudeness. I really didn't see you there just now." Her voice was husky and a little deeper than her usual sweet tone. "My name is Hitsumoto Sakuya. My father is a merchant in Kiri and we had just moved to Konoha recently. And you are?"

Sakura kept her eyes trained on his face and nowhere else. It was a lot harder than it appeared to be, much to the kunoichi's inner chagrin. She was so much shorter than the male beside her and she had to literally tilt her head up to look him in the face. Any other angle would leave her with an eyeful of the Uchiha's wet, taut chest and sleek, muscular pectorals and Sakura was completely embarrassed by this situation. She could only hope that he would think that the redness on her cheeks was caused by the heat from the hot spring.

For a long moment, it didn't appear like he would answer her. Sakura was getting increasingly tensed by his stare, and just when she thought that she could not take it any longer he spoke, his voice low and lilting.

"My name is Uchiha Itachi."

Internally, Sakura nearly wilted with relief. Externally, she proceeded to play the idiot. She frowned slightly. "Uchiha?" Then her eyes brightened with recognition. "Oh! So you are from the famous Uchiha clan! Nice to meet you!"

Sakura thought that she was playing the role of a newcomer rather perfectly, and in response the Uchiha said not a thing to refute her.

Still, the way his eyes never moved from her face unnerved her. Keeping her rising panic well hidden, she smiled nervously.

"Uh, is there anything on my face, Uchiha-san? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Sakura could have sworn that she saw a flash of amusement fleet across the detached gaze of the handsome male for a brief second. It was gone before she could confirm it though.

"Hitsumoto-san. Is this your first visit in a men's hot spring?" There was a strangely languid tone in his completely polite question. It made her stare—and blush despite her every effort to control herself. "You appear most uncomfortable."

Sakura had no idea what he was implying. Was he on to her? She frowned inwardly, then decided to speak the truth. She nodded and tried her best to look properly chagrinned.

"Ahahaha, you are right. This is my first time here. There aren't any hot springs in Kiri, after all."

Almost immediately, long, sooty lashes lowered and covered his gaze from her anxiously searching ones. Did he buy her little lie? She certainly hoped so. Sakura swallowed nervously. And where were those damn elders? Her current situation was getting very uncomfortable.

Then he looked at her again through a languorous, half-lidded stare that completely liquefied her insides. Sakura felt her mouth go dry at the almost sensual gaze from the elder Uchiha. The temperature around them suddenly skyrocketed and became a lot warmer than it already was. Sakura felt perspiration bead at her temples and she had to force herself to keep her gaze on his face.

Despite herself, her eyes roved over his arrogant features; the high cheekbones, the thin, sensuous lips, the exotically slanted onyx eyes, the long, silky raven hair. She started to blush profusely.

What was wrong with her? She didn't even know Sasuke's brother well enough to speak to him on a regular basis and here she was acting like a horny fangirl just because he was looking at her—

Looking at her very masculine form.

A most startling thought occurred to the stunned female.

_Sasuke never mentioned that his older brother was interested in men!! _

Oh.

Shit.

Sakura was very, very alarmed by now.

"Er." She started to edge away from the larger male as discreetly as she could but he was completely undeterred by her sudden withdrawal.

Sakura was most worried now when he proceeded to stalk her retreat, barely parting the water before him as he moved silently towards her, his shoulder blades moving sinuously with every feline-like movement he made. Brilliant emerald eyes were wide when she quickly found herself backed against the rocky wall.

Unfortunately the Uchiha did not stop until he had completely closed the distance between the two of them. It was all Sakura could do not to squeak with panic. She was literally stuck between and a rock and a _hard_ place, no pun intended. She could not give away the fact that she was female—to do so would mean that she had failed her part of the mission and she would not do it—especially not when the stakes were so high. There was no choice but to bear with this odd situation, as well as try her best to wiggle out of it.

"Anou, Uchiha-san, what are you doing?" Sakura stammered at his overwhelming proximity. Like her, he was naked except for the small scrap of towel that covered his loins and she was completely flustered by the thought even though the both of them were still submerged in the water. He was so near that she could smell him! He scented of fresh rainwater and Sakura could not help but tremble slightly in reaction.

Oh god.

She was trying so hard not to look at him but failing miserably while she was at it.

Then his hand came up and callused fingers touched her face.

Her eyes flew up to his, wide and panicked.

"Uchiha-san…"

His gaze was unreadable as he lowered his dark head to hers.

Sakura froze. He was now so near that she could see the slivers of cobalt blue that were embedded within his pupils!

Then he paused and tilted his head slightly, looking for all the world like a huge jungle cat who had just sensed prey coming from a distance. Sakura could only look at him with large eyes.

Slowly, onyx slid over to lock with pristine emerald.

Before Sakura could even react to what he was doing, the lean male swiftly wrapped an arm around her waist and dragged her over to him. Within the blink of an eye the stunned kunoichi found herself splayed against a taut chest, her lower limbs sprawled around hard, muscular thighs as she was all but sitting on his lap.

Sakura was completely mortified.

"Uchiha-san!" Her voice was getting shrill and distinctively _not_ masculine with her growing hysteria. "What are you doing?! Please let me go!"

He stared hard at her.

"Drop your henge now."

Sakura stilled with complete shock.

_He knew?!_

Then his request abruptly made itself very clear to her. She started to frown and shook her head at him immediately.

"No!" Was he kidding?! She would be completely naked and vulnerable against him.

Onyx eyes narrowed and Sakura gasped when his arm tightened warningly against her waist. It pressed her even harder against his chest. She squawked loudly in protest.

"I will not ask again. _Drop it now_." His soft tone was edged with hard steel, and Sakura flinched inwardly. Trapped thusly like she was, there was no choice for her. Besides, something told Sakura that he wasn't forcing her into her natural form just so that he could take advantage of her. She had heard about this elder Uchiha from an admiring Sasuke so many times that she was completely sure that he was just not that type of man.

Defeated, she nodded at last.

"_Kai_."

Almost immediately, her body shape changed. Her form became softer and more gently contoured compared to the earlier masculine version of herself. Her waist became narrower and her hips rounder, and her chest promptly grew in proportion until it was back to how it used to be.

Sakura's cheeks were bright red with sheer embarrassment as she was pressed tightly against the sleek, muscular form of the Uchiha before her. This was as close to any male as she had ever gotten before, and Sakura had completely no idea how to proceed with this odd situation that she had been abruptly dumped in.

Itachi gave her no time to adjust, however. Before she could even get accustomed to the decadent feel of another's skin against hers, he all but pulled her smaller form up towards him and covered her lips with his.

Emerald eyes were large with pure shock.

What the hell was going on here?!!

His lips were insistent as he pressed against hers, and before Sakura knew what was going on he had slipped past her slightly parted lips into the moist cavern of her mouth, his wet, sensuous tongue invading her completely as she froze. She started to stiffen further when his unoccupied hand came up to cup a breast and poor Sakura looked almost betrayed by her own instincts.

Was this the same man whom Sasuke had always held in such high regard?

Tensing, the kunoichi was about to struggle away from the firm grasp of the powerful shinobi when something changed.

Almost as if he was fully aware of her intention, his eyes locked with hers again. It took awhile for Sakura to realize the intent in those mesmerizing onyx orbs.

It wasn't lust.

It was necessity.

And he was silently warning her not to do it.

Sakura did not understand, and then he parted from her, his eyes steady and calm.

"Moan for me." His voice was quiet and authoritative, and before Sakura could demand why he was doing this he kissed her again.

This time, it was a lot gentler than before, almost as if he was coaxing for her to participate and not really knowing what he was up to Sakura decided to take a blind leap of faith.

Tentatively, she rubbed her tongue against his, and curled herself closer to his heat. A low rumble of approval sounded from his chest and her eyes flew up to his—and remained there. Shyly, she determinedly pushed away the fact that she was kissing Sasuke's older brother and twined her tongue almost daintily around his, sucking gently on his lips as she did so.

The look in his eyes assured her that she was doing it correctly, and feeling a little braver she slipped her fleshy appendage into his mouth, darting carefully over his teeth and molars, delicately tasting his essence as she did so. While she was busy exploring him, his long fingers started to stroke the breast that his hand had claimed earlier, lazily teasing a sweet pink nipple and eliciting a helpless whimper from the kunoichi.

Emerald eyes darkened, and Sakura moaned breathily again when he tweaked her mercilessly and made her budding areola pout and bead.

Oh god, Sakura could hardly believe that she was doing this with Uchiha Itachi—and enjoying every moment of it.

And unbeknownst to her, she wasn't the only one.

He pulled away from her mouth to pay attention to her neck and the elegant column of her throat. Boosting her higher with his arm around her waist, he ran his lips down the milky expanse of soft skin, inhaling her dizzying scent of mangoes as he did so. Sakura's breathing was now completely unstable as she submitted to his ministrations, her slender ribcage moving up and down rhythmically as she started to pant.

A small gasp escaped her lips as he latched his mouth over her pulse point and began to suck and nip on the sensitive flesh, his talented fingers rolling and playing with her rosy nipples the entire while. By now, Sakura's eyes were glazed with passion as she moved restlessly against him. Her arms came up to lock around his neck to bring herself closer to him and he hardly disapproved of her action.

"Louder." His voice was husky against her skin and so hot and wonderful but still she was hesitant to acquiesce to his quiet demand immediately.

Darkened onyx eyes narrowed slightly at her resistance—and then he decided to take things a notch higher.

Flushed and completely pleasured by the virile male whom she was currently straddled upon, her eyes fluttered close and she shuddered helplessly when the arm around her waist loosened and started to move in a southerly direction. She bit her lip and keened softly when he stroked the sensitive flesh of her inner thigh, but even she could not mask the loud cry of shocked pleasure when he pressed down against her most secret of places through the rough texture of the towel that she had wrapped securely around her hips.

The sensation was completely exquisite, and the kunoichi huskily moaned her pleasure against his ear, the sound erotically charged and completely sensual as it echoed impossibly through the darkened room—

The door to the hot springs slid open again, and this time the elders who were standing at the doorway could hardly believe their eyes.

"Itachi?"

The combined murmur of no less than six elders was like a splash of icy water to Sakura's heated senses. With a loud gasp of shock, the kunoichi's first instinct was to jump away from the Uchiha who had her wrapped so completely around him. Predictably, he did not let her go, and his arm came back around her waist to anchor her securely to him. Left with no choice, a mortified Sakura quickly buried her warm face against the crook of his neck.

He allowed her to do so, and blatantly sliding his hand from its perch on her full chest to the sweet indent of her waist where everyone could see, the Uchiha heir stared at his clan members with complete indifference.

"Honorable elders." His voice was cold and impersonal as he greeted the other Uchihas, nothing like the soft, silky purr that he had used on her earlier.

"What is the meaning of this?" one of the elders demanded immediately. "Aren't you supposed to be still on a mission, Itachi?"

"The mission was completed earlier than expected." His reply was short and curt. "As you can see, I have just returned and was trying to…relax."

Sakura did not have to turn around to sense the stern disapproval on the faces of the wizened old men. She felt herself tense slightly.

"This is not the place for such frivolities, Itachi." One of the aged nins commented sharply. "Anyone could walk in here-"

The younger Uchiha did not seem to give a damn.

"I do not care. Leave." He cut them off brusquely before they could continue.

The immediate displeasure of the elders made Sakura wince slightly. There was yet another general murmur of dissatisfaction from the group of elders but at last they relented to their clan heir.

"Very well." The same old man spoke for the entire group. Itachi was too much of an asset to the clan for them to contend with him over such small indiscretions after all, and they all knew it. "You will be expected to attend the meeting regarding your brother's misdemeanor later though. Be ready to be in the main house in two hours' time."

And with that statement they left at last, shutting the door firmly behind them and leaving the pair in complete solitude once more.

It took Sakura awhile to recover from the shock and understand why he had done the things he had to her.

Almost immediately, the kunoichi felt used and taking advantage of the fact that he did not expect her sudden movement she wrenched herself fiercely from him, scooting as far away from the unmoving male as possible and keeping only her head above the water as she did so.

Emerald eyes glared into now impassive onyx—and Sakura was more aware than ever that she had failed completely in her mission.

Almost as if he could read the harsh recrimination on her face, he spoke.

"Your henge was perfect but it would be easy for anyone who was willing to pay attention to realize the thin layer of chakra that completely covered your altered form. The elders would have noticed straight away."

Her eyes widened slightly at his correct assumption—and how on earth did he know of her plan?

And so she had been correct—this plan had been doomed to failure from the very beginning, but a nagging question refused to leave Sakura alone.

"Why did you help me then?" She asked immediately.

"I wasn't helping you." His reply was immediate. "You were my alibi."

She frowned.

"Alibi?"

His head tilted slightly as he fixed his gaze completely on her. "I assume that you are up to all this just to rescue my little brother."

She looked at him with large, surprised eyes.

"You must be the decoy, sent to delay the elders whereas your other teammates carry out the actual rescue mission."

Sakura frowned slightly and nodded reluctantly.

"And I failed." She hissed, completely angry with herself for not anticipating that the oiroke no jutsu would not have worked. If Itachi hadn't been here she would have been in deep trouble.

Itachi looked at the upset female. She appeared highly agitated; her eyes filled with worry over what would happen to his little brother as well as her other two teammates now that she had failed to accomplish her part of the plan. Onyx eyes stared hard at the beautiful little female; her anxiety for all her teammates was guilelessly genuine. She had so many chances to escape him but she had chose to stay put and sacrifice herself just so that her cover would not be blown and she could do her part to help. Such loyalty was commendable—and very rare in his world.

Sasuke was very lucky to have such a friend—and he was beginning to understand a little just why his little brother was so protective of Team Seven.

"Sasuke should be meeting up with your other teammates even as I speak." He sounded completely neutral but his gaze was intent as he watched the pink-haired kunoichi stare at him with increasing hope.

"But…how?" Sakura was initially confused. Unless Sasuke's brother had—

Understanding dawned.

His calm eyes did not leave hers.

"You needed an alibi because you were the one who let Sasuke loose, didn't you?" The kunoichi whispered. He didn't say anything. "You came all the way back from your mission when you heard of what happened—and you came back to free him."

She appeared slightly dazed by her realization—and then the reality of what happened struck her and suddenly Sakura didn't feel quite as mad at the elder Uchiha as she had been earlier.

"Tell Sasuke to lie low for a month or two." The elder Uchiha spoke. "Ask Hokage-sama for missions that would take him away from Konoha for awhile. The elders will calm down in a few months."

Sakura nodded immediately.

"I have already gotten clearance from shishou for Team Seven to leave immediately to Wave Country on a diplomatic exchange. The mission should last for at least two months." The kunoichi confirmed. Her expressive eyes, though clearly upset earlier, were now starting to shine with renewed happiness. "We are going to leave ASAP."

The Uchiha tilted his head once in acknowledgement.

"Then you should go now."

A small, entirely content smile was starting to play on her face and it made her so beautiful that he was completely fascinated by it. Sakura did not notice the intent stare of the Uchiha. Putting her hands together, Sakura started to flash through the seals for yet another henge. This time she was back to being the male version of herself, but completely clothed. She got out of the hot spring immediately and was about to make her way to the exit when she paused.

"Anou…" she turned to face the silent Uchiha, a small frown knitting her brow. He looked at her calmly. "Will you get into any trouble for doing this?"

Her worry for him was extremely obvious—and completely unexpected. After the way that he had used her without her permission he would have half expected for her to be angry with him but on the contrary she was almost fussing over him as well, worried for his wellbeing and whatnot.

If she hadn't already captured his interest earlier, she had his complete attention now.

Onyx eyes lightened fractionally. What a rare little female she was.

And so very sweet and sensual too.

There was definitely something to be explored with her, his instincts told him as much but now was unfortunately not the time. He was perfectly willing to wait though.

Itachi shook his head once.

"I have a solid alibi." He stated, his lilting tone sounding a lot gentler than before. "And even if I didn't they wouldn't dare do anything to me."

And Sakura was abruptly reminded that this was the powerful clan heir—and abruptly reminded of the cold, imperious way that he had spoken to the elders earlier—and how they had let him.

She nodded hesitantly at last.

"Alright." Sakura turned completely towards the male and then bowed deeply to him. "Thank you, Uchiha-san."

He merely looked at her.

"My name is Itachi." There was a rich timbre in his voice that made her falter slightly. It packed the same power as the look of intense interest that she had finally detected in his eyes. "And yours, kunoichi?"

Sakura was hardly surprised that he did not know of her name. In fact, it had been more of a shock to her when he had successfully recognized her as one of Sasuke's teammates.

"My name is Haruno Sakura." She answered him all the same. "Thank you again, Itachi-san. Goodbye."

Then she turned towards the exit, slid open the door and slipped through the opening soundlessly before closing the door behind her. Within less than fifteen seconds her presence disappeared completely from his senses and the Uchiha stared at the door for the longest of moments.

Two months, huh?

Onyx eyes gleamed slightly with anticipation.

_Until we meet again, Sakura. Until we meet again. _

_

* * *

::owari::

* * *

_

**Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:**

**  
**For those who do not know, oiroke no jutsu is the Japanese translation for the Sexy no jutsu.

---

I'm not really sure how the jutsu works though. Judging by Naruto's version, I assumed that the modified henge would retain some physical traits of the user; i.e. eye and hair color, height, etc. I'm quite aware that male!Sakura should have short hair but I had her retain the long hair just for kicks. Pretty boy!Sakura is something I would like to see, that's for sure. Right beside Itachi, of course. Or sprawled against him. Or being touchy feely-ish. Haha.

I swear; this is as close to yaoi as I will ever write!

---

Since I have mentioned that this is the first prequel to Icha Icha Paradise, I'm definitely planning to write another one or two more follow-ups to sexy no jutsu that will in the end lead to Icha Icha Paradise, seeing that there doesn't seem to be much linkage between sexy no jutsu and IIP at the moment. Sequel to heart strings is still in the making as well, so don't worry that I have forgotten. I have no plans to abandon any of my continuous fics as well, so to all the readers who are asking for an update (and righteously so too, I might add), please bear with me a little more!

---

Lastly, this prequel is sort of inspired by Setsuna's fanart for Icha Icha Paradise! Good news people, IIP won Setsuna's ItaSaku Alternate Universe Fanfiction Contest, under the Mature category with the theme Non-Massare AU. Lots of thanks to all who voted, and if you are interested in the fanart that Setsuna drew, please refer to my profile for the deviantart link!

----------

Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. So please leave a comment if you like this fic, thank you.

--paws


End file.
